The present invention relates in general to electromagnetic fuel injectors for internal combustion engines and, in particular, to fuel injectors with an impinging jet atomizer.
Increasingly stringent exhaust emission standards have driven the automotive industry to discover ways of achieving more complete combustion and thereby lower emissions. One way of achieving more complete combustion is by using fuel injectors with improved fuel atomization.
Fuel injectors typically comprise an electromagnetically actuated needle valve disposed in a fuel volume. The needle valve is reciprocated axially within the fuel volume in response to energization and deenergization of an actuator to selectively open and close a flow path through the fuel injector. Particularly, the valve body or housing defining the fuel volume has an aperture or orifice at one end forming a seat for the end of the needle valve whereby its reciprocating motion enables an intermittent flow of fuel through the orifice. Typically, the fuel emitted from a fuel injector is atomized downstream of the orifice to provide the necessary fuel/air mixture in the combustion chamber of the engine.